Latvian Economy Grows Quicker Than Forecast at EU’s Fastest Pace

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Latvia’s economy expanded at the
quickest pace in the European Union in the fourth quarter,
fueled by trade and manufacturing.

Gross domestic product grew a preliminary 5.1 percent from
a year earlier, compared with a 5.2 percent advance in the third
quarter, the statistics office, based in the capital, Riga, said
today by e-mail. That’s more than the 4.5 percent median
estimate of 10 economists in a Bloomberg survey. GDP rose 1.3
percent from the previous quarter.

The Baltic country’s economy expanded by more than 5
percent for a second year in 2012 as output rebounded from the
world’s deepest recession in 2008-2009, which erased almost a
quarter of GDP. Growth will slow to 3.7 percent this year, the
government estimates.

Trade grew 11 percent from a year earlier in the October-December period, while manufacturing expanded 6 percent,
according to today’s statement. The statistics office will
release detailed GDP data March 11.